Method of excavating trenches of considerable width

ABSTRACT

Earth excavating apparatus and method, the apparatus having an elongate horizontally disposed supporting arrangement including a girder, said arrangement having means for effecting horizontal movement of the entire arrangement and vertical movement of said girder. Two or more excavating units are slidably mounted on the said girder for longitudinal movement therealong, whereby upon horizontal movement of said support arrangement and longitudinal movement of said excavating units relative to said girder, a trench or excavation of considerable width may be effected. A support member further includes conveying apparatus so that the excavating material may be removed and transported to the ends of said supporting arrangement.

[ 1 Sept. 11, 1973 METHOD OF EXCAVATING TRENCHES OF CONSIDERABLE WIDTH [76] Inventor: David Khaitovitch, 114-1 Rehove Avraham Stern, Jerusalem, Israel 221 Filed: Dec. 22, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 211,007

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 28,184, April 13, 1970, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 698,741, Jan. 18, 1968, abandoned.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 37/90 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant ExaminerClifford D. Crowder Attorney-- 1. Irving Silverman. Norbert Melber et a1.

[57] ABSTRACT Earth excavating apparatus and method, the apparatus having an elongate horizontally disposed supporting arrangement including a girder, said arrangement having means for effecting horizontal movement of the entire arrangement and vertical movement of said girder. Two or more excavating units are slidably mounted on the said girder for longitudinal movement therealong, whereby upon horizontal movement of said support arrangement and longitudinal movement of said excavating units relative to said girder, a trench or excavation of considerable width may be effected. A support member further includes conveying apparatus so that the excavating material may be removed and transported to the ends of said supporting arrangement.

4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTED SEP] 1 I973 SHEET 1 IF 2 PATENTED 1 SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 5

FIG. 4

METHOD OF EXCAVATING TRENCIIES OF CONSIDERABLE WIDTH REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to earth-moving apparatus and method, and more particularly, to that type wherein one or more power-driven excavators or excavating units are carried or trailed by a tractor or the like, with the material so excavated transferred from the area being excavated by a conveyor system. While the present invention is adapted for use with various types of excavating units, it has been found that the rotary type of unit performs quite satisfactorily; accordingly, the invention will be described in conjunction with this type of unit, it being understood that other types of excavating units also may be employed if so desired.

Rotary excavators similar to those illustrated in the drawings are well known and extensively used for excavating trenches or the like, the width of the excavation being determined and limited by the width of the shovels or earth-engaging elements of the excavating unit. Where it is desired to excavate trenches or an area of greater width than that of the excavator elements themselves, repeated runs of the tractor and of the rotor must be employed, or alternatively, two separate and distinct units must be used. It is readily appreciated that such methods of excavation are inefficient, timeconsuming, and uneconomical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is concerned primarily with the provision of apparatus and method wherein a trench of considerable width may be excavated by the use of two or more excavating units employing shovels, buckets or the like, each individually having an overall width substantially less than that of the trench to be formed. The apparatus including a supporting arrangement which carries the excavating unit or units in slidable fashion thereon for movement therealong in a direction transverse to the length of said trench. The supporting arrangement is capable of movement in the horizontal direction, both longitudinally of said trench and transversely thereof, such-that upon movement of said supporting arrangement and transversal of the excavating units a trench of the desired length and-width may be excavated.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the excavating apparatus of the present invention, with certain components or elements illustrated schematically for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view corresponding to that of FIG. 2, and being on an enlarged scale to illustrate the details of the drive arrangement for the excavating unit.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-54 of FIG. 3. 7

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing one of the possible paths followed by the excavating units during operation of the apparatus of FIG. I.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of dumping material.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method of dumping material in two piles.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate method of dumping material in several piles using scraper plates shorter and longer than the width of the conveyor belt.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, the excavating apparatus, which is designed generally 10 in FIG. 1, is shown in position in an excavation 11. The apparatus 10 is comprised of a supporting arrangement which includes an elongated cross-girder or support member 12 that has a pair of excavating units 14 slidably mounted thereon. The supporting arrangement further includes at each end of the girder 12, carriage arrangements illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 and designated generally 16.

Each carriage arrangement 16 may be a selfpropelled unit or merely a trailer-type arrangement that is'connected to a tractor or the like (not shown) for horizontal movement. It should be further noted that in order to dispose the excavating units in the excavation 11, it is necessary that the carriage arrangements 16 be capable of raising and lowering cross-girder 12. Thus, carriage arrangements 16 also include vertical frame members 17 and means for effecting said raising and lowering of the girder 12 along said frame members, as indicated in FIG. 1.

The girder 12 is normally of a rectangular or square configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, and is provided with a belt conveying system 18 housed within the confines thereof. The conveying system 18 picks up the excavated material and transports it to the ends of crossgirder 12 where slinger mechanisms 20 are employed to deposit the excavated material at the side of the trench. Please note that both the slinger mechanisms 20 and the conveyor system 18 are illustrated schematically in FIG. I, for purposes of clarity.

Slidably mounted on the girder 12 are the excavating units 14, while two such units have been illustrated, it is possible to employ only one, or if desired, to use three or more such units. Each illustrated unit 14 is a rotary type unit and includes a plurality of radially directed excavating shovels or buckets 24 rigidly mounted on a ploygonal frame member 26. Each shovelor bucket 24 is provided with a multitude of teeth '30 along the forward edge and any side edges which are to engage the walls of the excavation l1. Accordingly, as the excavating unit 14 moves along the length of the cross-girder 12, the individual shovels 24 will dislodge and carry away the soil for subsequent depositing on the conveyor system 18.

The rotary excavating elements 24 and the associated frame 26 are carried on a platform 32 which constitutes a part of the unit 14 and, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, is slidably mounted to the girder 12. Fixed to the upper portion of cross-girder 12 are rails 34, while each platform 32 is provided with a plurality of corresponding rollers 36 engaged upon said rails 34, to slidably mount to the platform 32 thereon.

The supporting and drive arrangement for each frame 26 is illustrated in FIG. 3 and includes one or more U-shaped housings 44 fixedly attached to platform 32 by way of journal blocks 40 formed on the housing and the roller axle 42 which is in effect part of platform 32. Each housing44 has an internally geared ring 46 rotatably mounted thereon by way of ball bearings 48. Polygonal frame 26 with its associated excavating shovels 24 is mounted on ring 46 by welding or is otherwise secured to ring 46 so that said frame 26 and the associated shovels will rotate with said ring and relative to housing 44 and cross-girder 12.

Referring again to FIG. 1 for a moment, it can be seen that each excavating unit 14 includes' drive means for the. shovels 24 in the form of a motor 50 and an elongated drive shaft 52 mounted to the platform 32. Drive shaft 52 passes through the housing or housings 44 associated with each platform 32 and has affixed thereto a drive gear 54 which is disposed within each housing and meshed with the internally geared surface of ring 46 mounted on said housing. Accordingly then,

'by means of motor 50, shaft 52, and gear 54, ring 46 can be driven, which in turn causes the excavating shovels 24 affixed to the frame 26 to rotate. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1', a pair of supporting and driving arrangements for each frame 24 have been illustrated, but it is understood that this is a mere matter of choice and only one or possibly more such arrangements could be used; each arrangement so used including a housing 44, an internally geared ring 46 and a drive gear 54 affixed to shaft 52.

With further reference to FIG. 3, it can be seen that to facilitate the sliding movement of the excavating unit 14 along the cross-girder 12, each housing 44 is provided with a pair of rollers 60 so positioned as to engage the underside of said girder'l2. Thus, by use of the rollers 36 on platform 32 and the rollers 60 on the casing member 44, it can be seen that the entire excavating unit 14 can move freely along the entire length of girder 12 or any portion thereof.

To effect the above mentioned movement of the excavating'unit or units 14, the apparatus employs a platform drive arrangement which is illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 for purposes of clarity. The drive means for each platform 32 includes a cable 62 which is affixedto the opposite ends of the platform 32 and passes over pulleys 64 disposed at either end of the girder 12. Each pulley 64 is associated with a winch mechanism or the like (not shown) and is driven thereby so as to effect movement of platform 32 along the girder 12. It is believed clear that the type of drive unit employed by the platform 32 is a matter of choice, and as alternatives to the cable and pulley arrangement illustrated schematically in FIG. 1, other types of drive arrangements may be employed. For example, the motor 50 or an additional motor mounted on platform 32 may be used in conjunction with a gear arrangement of the rack and pinion type to achieve the desired movement of the excavating unit along the upper portion or surface of girder 12.

The framework of a girder 12, as shown in FIG. 3, includes deflection plates 66 disposed on the opposite sides of conveyor 18. The deflection plates 66 are situated such that when the excavated material slides along the length of the bucket or shovel 24 and passes through the open frame 26, it will be guided and deposited on the conveyor system 18. Accordingly, the conveyor system 18 will then transport the excavated material to the end of the girder 12 where the slinger mechanisms 20 will deposit said material beyond the trench.

The mechanical cutting effect of the shovels or buckets 24 can be enhanced by a known electro-hydraulic effect which is used to disintegrate and loosen extremely rocky or stony soil. With this arrangement, the soil is so loosened or disintegrated by one shovel or bucket element, the next succeeding shovel engaging and lifting the soil from the excavation. For this purpose, each shovel or any number thereof is provided with a water supply line and an electric cable on the other side thereof. This arrangement for producing the electro-hydraulic effect is placed under the cutting teeth of the shovel and acts in such a manner that an electric current is passed through the soil simultaneously with the injection or a spray of water.

The use or mode of operation of the apparatus illustrated in the drawings for excavating a predetermined area will now be described with reference to FIG. 5. Accordingly, by use of some other type of excavating means the initial excavation 11 is formed, and the apparatus of the present invention maneuvered to position to span the width of the excavation 11. Once the apparatus is in position, the girder 12 which is initially in the raised position is lowered to dispose the buckets 24 in the excavation. With the apparatus 10 thus positioned and the buckets 24 disposed in the excavation, drive motors 50 are actuated. At the same time, the two rotary excavating units 14 are individually displaced away from each other along the paths designated a and a in FIG. 5. The individual rotary units 14 perform an essentially spiral excavating motion and as a consequence thereof each will excavate an area in width equal to the diameter of the circle described by the tips of the shovels 24 and of the length equal to the traversal of said units 14 along the cr0ssgirder 12.

When the excavating units have reached the end of the girder 12, or are in a position which defines the desired width of the trench to be produced, the entire supporting arrangement is advanced by way of the carriage arrangements 16 with the excavating units still operating and traversing the paths indicated b and b in FIG. 5. The length of the respective paths b and b are equal to the aforementioned diameters described by the tips of the shovels 24.

With the supporting arrangement thus repositioned, the platform drive means is operated to cause the individual units 14 to move inwardly along the girder 12 toward each other such that they traverse the paths la beled c and c' in FIG. 5.

When the excavating units 14 have reached the middle of the girder 12, the supporting arrangement is again advanced with the units 14 in operation. Accordingly, the respective units 14 will traverse the paths labeled d and d, said paths being equal in length to paths b and b', respectively. Thus, the units 14 have reached a position corresponding to the initial position in excavation 11 described above and the entire procedure is repeated and re-repeated until a trench of the desired length and width has been excavated.

The invention as described hereinbefore, while being well adapted for trenching and other types of excavating, can also be used, with slight modification, for the forming of railway embankments. In this instance the two rotary excavating units 14 are initially disposed at opposite ends of the girder l2 and moved toward each other only about one-third of the length of the girder. Obviously, with this mode of operation, the conveying apparatus 18 must be reversed or modified so that the excavated material is carried toward the center of the girder l2 and is discharged in a pile which is ultimately compacted to form the embankment.

In FIG. 6, a method is illustrated for dumping material wherein the excavating units and their conveyor belts 18 are arranged such as to leave a gap between the belts at about the center point between the units. The excavated material is moved on the belts toward the ends thereof, and will form a pile beneath the gap.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for forming two piles of material by placing the ends of the conveyor belts at a desired distance from one another.

In FIGS. 8 and 9 scraper blades 71, 72 are arranged over the conveyor belts 18. The blades 71 are of shorter active length than the width of the conveyor belts while blades 72 are longer than the width of the conveyor belts and have, thus, full active length. Consequently, the blades 71 will remove from the belts only part of the material while blades 72 will remove all material.

It is believed clear that many and varied arrangements and types of excavating units can be employed without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. In addition to the above discussed arrangements, it is contemplated that it would be possible to use only one excavating unit and to have said unit traverse the entire length of the cross-girder 12. Or, as still another modification of the illustrated embodiment, in addition to the two units which traverse the crossgirder 12, there could be included two stationary excavating units, one disposed at each end of the supporting arrangement. Such stationary excavating units being designed to define the profile of the excavation, and increase productivity.

What is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A method of excavating a predetermined area using apparatus comprising two rotary excavating units having cutting shovels on the circumferences thereof, said method comprising the steps of:

A. forming an initial excavation,

B. lowering the units so as to position the lowest shovels at the bottom of the excavation,

C. moving the units away from one another to a desired width while the units perform spiral digging motions,

D. moving the units forward while they perform rotating and digging motions,

E. moving the rotating units toward one another,

F. moving the rotating units forward, and

G. repeating the steps C to F until a trench of the desired length is excavated.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising the step of depositing the excavated material on conveyor belts associated with the excavating units.

3. The method as set forth in claim 2 comprising the steps of: positioning the conveyor belts in alignment close to one another, transporting the excavated material on the conveyor belts towards the ends facing one another, whereby upon arrival thereat the material is discharged in a pile which may be compacted to form an embankment.

4. The method as set forth in claim 2 comprising the steps of: positioning the conveyor belts at a desirable distance from one another, andtransporting the excavated material towards the ends facing one another, whereby upon arrival thereat the material is discharged in two piles. 

1. A method of excavating a predetermined area using apparatus comprising two rotary excavating units having cutting shovels on the circumferences thereof, said method comprising the steps of: A. forming an initial excavation, B. lowering the units so as to position the lowest shovels at the bottom of the excavation, C. moving the units away from one another to a desired width while the units perform spiral digging motions, D. moving the units forward while they perform rotating and digging motions, E. moving the rotating units toward one another, F. moving the rotating units forward, and G. repeating the steps C to F until a trench of the desired length is excavated.
 2. The method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising the step of depositing the excavated material on conveyor belts associated with the excavating units.
 3. The method as set forth in claim 2 comprising the steps of: positioning the conveyor belts in alignment close to one another, transporting the excavated material on the conveyor belts towards the ends facing one another, whereby upon arrival thereat the material is discharged in a pile which may be compacted to form an embankment.
 4. The method as set forth in claim 2 comprising the steps of: positioning the conveyor belts at a desirable distance from one another, and transporting the excavated material towards the ends facing one another, whereby upon arrival thereat the material is discharged in two piles. 